Saturday, May 21, 2016

Solovey on 12 Reasons Russians Don’t Like Ukrainians

Paul
Goble

Staunton, May 21 – It is a
longstanding tradition among Russians to itemize the reasons they like or more
often dislike other nations, reasons that not surprisingly say more about the
Russians themselves than about those they like or dislike. MGIMO historian
Valery Solovey continues that tradition by identifying 12 reasons why Russians
don’t like Ukrainians.

1.“Ukrainians
never know who will win the next elections.” Russians “can’t live with such
uncertainty: we always know in advance” who will win.

2.“If
Ukrainians choose a thief and a bribe taker, they won’t wait to the end of his
term but simply overthrow him.” For Russians, in contrast, “theft and arbitrary
action is the holy privilege of the authorities” and a kind of behavior that
holds the country together.

3.“Ukrainians
want to be in Europe, not Asia. They do not understand what Russians know:
namely that rule of law, freedom and human rights, an effective economy and a
social state are ill-intentioned inventions designed to destroy the nation. For
spiritual health, [Russians know] there is nothing better than Asiatic
despotism.”

4.Ukrainians
are prepared to work at any job abroad, viewing labor as a positive and honored
thing. “This isn’t the case for Russians. We are entirely a nation of creators,
businessmen and showmen,” not waiters.

5.“Ukrainians
can’t create an effective economy.” Only Russians can since “by their own
efforts, [they] raised the price of oil to 120 dollars a barrel” and managed to
achieve a quality of life that surpasses “even Venezuela.”

6.“The
fruits of Ukrainian labor are used by oligarchs, but in Russia, this is done
honestly.”

7.“The
dastardly Ukes don’t want to meet fraternal Russian tanks with bread and salt,
a betrayal of the many-centuries-long friendship of our peoples!”

8.“Ukrainians
treat their military dead as heroes. The Russians carefully conceal the graves
of theirs.”

9.“Ukraine
stubbornly refuses to collapse under the weight of its own mistakes and crimes.
And [from the Russian perspective] the West is helping it put off this end.”

10.“Ukrainians
speak a singsong dialect which was developed by the Austrian general staff” and
have “a provincial culture. “They don’t want to use the powerful Russian
cursewords and refuse to follow in the wake of Russian-language pop culture.”

11.“All
Ukrainians know the words of their national anthem and sing it with tears in
their eyes. Fools! It is enough to simply open one’s mouth and imitate singing,”
as the Russians do.

12.And
finally, Solovey says, “the main reason [Russians] don’t like Ukrainians and
can’t forgive them is this: they are showing that another path is possible.
Here and now.”